SA's ambassador to India lauds work of Swami Nischalananda

SOUTH Africa owes a debt of gratitude to Swami Nischalananda, a product of girmitiya or indentured worker heritage, for the sacrifices he made to improve the quality of life for all, said Professor Anil Sooklal, South Africa’s Ambassador to India.

Sooklal was delivering a powerful keynote address at the 100th birth anniversary of Nischalananda, a spiritual pioneer and Vedantic visionary who founded the Ramakrishna Centre in Durban eight decades ago.

He acknowledged the lasting legacy of Swami Nischalananda, who echoed the message of one of his spiritual gurus, Swami Vivekananda: unity in diversity, strength through knowledge, and liberation through selfless service.

These qualities run like a golden thread through the multifarious activities of the Ramakrishna Centre in serving the poor, providing health care, education programmes and legal services in addition to spiritual activities it continues to this day.

Sooklal said Swami Nischalananda was born as Dhanagopal Naidoo in 1925 in Newcastle, in KwaZulu-Natal, to poor parents who sacrificed much to ensure their son achieved his dreams.

“Swami Nischalananda, who hailed from girmitiya stock, was one of the great sons of South Africa and it is only right and proper that he is being celebrated for the remarkable contributions he made to the country, its people generally and to the Hindu community in particular.

“He did not pull his punches where principles were concerned. People would question how as a sannyasi he dare do this or that. But if Swami Nischalananda was satisfied that his principles were right, he did not care about criticism and had the guts of a Superman.”

Sooklal said to put Swami Nichalananda’s life into context, one must look at what he experienced during his time.

“Most times when you speak of Indians in South Africa, the discourse is unfortunately overshadowed by Gandhiji, who doubtless was a larger-than-life figure. But without girmitiyas or indentured workers in South Africa, there would have been no Gandhiji. The only reason that Gandhiji came here is because we had a girmitiya community.

“By the time Gandhiji arrived in 1893, some 33 years after the first girmitiyas came to South Africa, the British government stopped slavery a year later because of global pressure. In 1835, the first girmitiyas were sent by the British colonial rulers to Mauritius as slave labour but disguised as indentured workers. Later these labourers went throughout the British empire. It was nothing but slave labour.

“There is growing interest in India about the history of girmitiyas. I have spoken about this form of sugar-coated slavery at several conferences I have addressed in India since arriving in Delhi as Ambassador. India’s Prime Minister has also thrown his weight behind giving the history of girmitiyas prominence by announcing plans for a global girmitiya database, a university-led study of their legacy, and a world girmitiya conference to trace their journeys and settlements,” he said.

He said it was with the proud stamp of girmitiya social class that the young Dhanagopal, who was to later become Swami Nichalananda, experienced life and developed his leadership mettle

Sooklal said when apartheid was being institutionalised in South Africa in 1948, Swami Nischalananda set sail for India to undergo spiritual training and initiation for six years.

“It is sad that it was a time when there was shame and confusion among Hindus. But this was not the doing of Hindus. We brought our faith and our religion when we were brought to South Africa. Treating us as slaves stripped us of our pride and identity. We were not poor and starving Indians who came to South Africa. That is a fallacy propagated by western writers.

“We have been decolonised as a country but our minds have not been decolonised. We need not be apologetic of who we are. Not only did the British ship our great grandparents out of India as slaves but they also demeaned and denigrated our religion and culture.

“The British made our grandparents feel ashamed of who they were, of their languages, of their culture and their religion. They referred to them as heathens, as idol worshippers and enlisted evangelical Christians to convert them.

“Since 1948 under apartheid, such government-sanctioned conversion continued. At least 95% of the Indians that came to South Africa were Hindus; today Hindus make up 40%. Why? Were Swami Nischalananda alive, would he be happy?

“And we are partly to blame for that because we became ashamed of our own identity. We could not provide leadership. We did not nurture young people to become leaders. We like to hog positions on organisations until we die.”

Sooklal said he was what he was because of the Ramakrishna Centre.

“I gave my first public speech at a Shivarathri celebration at the Avoca ashram. And when I was deciding on a topic for my Ph.D. research, I chose the Ramakrishna movement because I was fascinated by the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. The Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa has shaped me and I am so grateful that we had someone as towering as Swami Nischalananda who set up the first ashram in South Africa and branches in all major towns and cities where Indians were once settled."

He said it was important for the community not to forget its history and added that Indians were a powerful community because their great-grandparents arrived in Natal penniless and laid a solid foundation.

They brought religion, culture, tradition and values.

“They built hundreds of temples with their pennies, so that the Hindu religion will sustain and form an integral fabric of its followers. It is time to reinvigorate and energise our youth, not only for the benefit of the Hindu community, but for the benefit of larger South African society that is ailing today.

“Recently we won two gold medals in relay. We do well in rugby and cricket and this is because we put the right people into these games. This is a powerful country. It's God's own country in terms of natural resources and the people. Although we are blessed, we we are not growing economically. Why? Because we are not appointing capable people.

"If we have the right people, this country will go forward. And this is the dream Swami Nischalananda had and for which he sacrificed so much. It pains me to see the state of our community today. We come from an ancient civilisation; an ancient culture. We are the children of rishis. We are the sons and daughters of Swami Nischalananda, who laid the foundations for a society based on right living. Do not discard the treasured legacy of such a great man,” said  Sooklal.

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